One-time-use camera with break-away outer cover

ABSTRACT

A one-time-use camera with a front cover part, is characterized in that the front cover part has a lens bezel, a longitudinal opening partially surrounding the lens bezel, and at least one grooved line of weakness extending to the longitudinal opening, to permit one portion of the front cover part to be broken away from another portion of the front cover part along the grooved line of weakness and separated at least partially around the lens bezel. Thus, the front cover part can be rendered detectably different during disassembly of the one-time-use camera to retrieve the exposed film. This allows the front cover part to be readily identified to be discarded, and prevents it from being erroneously reused.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Reference is made to commonly assigned copending applications Ser. No.09/056,961, entitled RECASED ONE-TIME-USE CAMERA and filed Apr. 8, 1998in the names of David T. Braid and Randy E. Horning, and Ser. No.09/056,534, entitled METHOD OF REMOVING EXPOSED FILM FROM RECASEDONE-TIME-USE CAMERA and filed Apr. 8, 1998 in the names of Randy E.Horning, James G. Rydelek & Will J. Kropp.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to the field of photography, and inparticular to one-time-use cameras. More specifically, the inventionrelates to a one-time-use camera with a cover part that is fractured torender it detectably different, during disassembly of the one-time-usecamera to retrieve the exposed film. This allows the cover part to bereadily identified to be discarded, and prevents it from beingerroneously reused.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Film and cameras that are all in one, commonly referred to as single-useor one-time-use cameras, have become well known. The one-time-use camerais a simple point-and-shoot type comprising a plastic main body partwhich supports a conventional film cartridge in a cartridge receivingchamber, a film take-up spool in a film supply chamber, a fixed-focustaking lens, a film metering mechanism with a rotatably supportedmetering sprocket that engages the filmstrip, a manually rotatablethumbwheel rotatably engaged with a film spool inside the filmcartridge, a single-blade shutter, a manually depressible shutterrelease button, a rotatable frame counter for indicating the number ofexposures remaining for picture-taking, a direct see-through viewfinder,and in some models an electronic flash. A pair of plastic front and rearcover parts house the main body part between them to complete the cameraunit. The rear cover part connects to the main body part and/or to thefront cover part to make the main body part light-tight. A decorativecardboard outer box or label at least partially covers the camera unitand has respective openings for the taking lens, etc.

After each picture is taken with the one-time-use camera, thephotographer manually rotates the thumbwheel in a film winding directionto similarly rotate the film spool inside the film cartridge. This windsan exposed section of the filmstrip into the film cartridge. Therewinding movement of the filmstrip the equivalent of slightly more thanone frame width rotates the metering sprocket in engagement with thefilmstrip to decrement the frame counter to its next lower-numberedsetting and to pivot a metering lever into engagement with thethumbwheel in order to prevent further manual rotation of thethumbwheel. Manually depressing the shutter release button to takeanother picture pivots the metering lever out of engagement with thethumbwheel to permit renewed rotation of the thumbwheel. When themaximum number of exposures available on the filmstrip are exposed, andthe filmstrip is completely wound off the take-up spool and into thefilm cartridge, the one-time-use camera is given to a photofinisher whotears the outer box off the camera unit, separates the rear cover partfrom the main body part, and removes the film cartridge with the exposedfilmstrip from the cartridge receiving chamber. Then, he removes theexposed filmstrip from the film cartridge to develop the negatives andmake prints for the customer. At least some of the used camera parts maybe recycled, i.e. reused, to remanufacture the camera.

PRIOR ART PROBLEM

There is a problem in the recycling, i.e. reuse, of used camera parts,in that the reused parts may become worn or damaged. Thus, it has beensuggested that any worn or damaged parts be purposely fractured torender them detectably different, during disassembly of the one-time-usecamera to retrieve the exposed film. This allows the worn or damagedparts to be readily identified to be discarded, and prevents them frombeing erroneously reused.

One specific example of a possible solution to the problem is disclosedin prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,410 issued Sep. 20, 1994. The patentsuggests that an anti-backup pawl for the thumbwheel be broken when therear cover part is separated from the main body part in order to obtainthe film cartridge from the cartridge receiving chamber. The rear coverpart has a projecting hook that extends through a hole in theanti-backup pawl to engage the pawl. The anti-backup pawl is connectedto the main body part at a location which includes a weakened notchsection. Thus, separating the rear cover part from the main body partbreaks the anti-backup pawl away from the main body part at the weakenednotch section. Consequently, the main body part can never be reused.However, it may be cost-effective and resource-conserving to recycle themain body part when it is reusable.

Another specific example of a possible solution to the problem involvesthe rear cover part. The rear cover part sometimes has an integral doorportion that is to be opened to remove the film cartridge from thecartridge receiving chamber. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,330 issued Jul. 12,1994. A grooved line of weakness forms a living hinge between the doorportion and a remaining portion of the rear cover part, and tends tofracture when the door portion is opened. The fractured line of weaknesspermits the door portion to be readily separated from the remainingportion of the rear cover part, to prevent the rear cover part frombeing reused. However, the rear cover part may be reused, provided anopaque connecting-tape is adhered to the fractured line of weakness.This is obviously undesirable from a quality standpoint.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A one-time-use camera with a front cover part, is characterized in that:

the front cover part has a lens bezel, a longitudinal opening partiallysurrounding the lens bezel, and at least one grooved line of weaknessextending to the longitudinal opening, to permit one portion of thefront cover part to be broken away from another portion of the frontcover part along the grooved line of weakness and separated at leastpartially around the lens bezel. Thus, the front cover part can berendered detectably different during disassembly of the one-time-usecamera to retrieve the exposed film. This allows the front cover part tobe readily identified to be discarded, and prevents it from beingerroneously reused.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded front perspective view of a one-time-use cameraaccording to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded rear perspective view of the one-time-use camera;

FIG. 3 is an assembled front perspective view of the one-time-usecamera; and

FIG. 4 is an assembled rear perspective view of the one-time-use camera.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is disclosed as being embodied preferably in aone-time-use camera. Because the features of a one-time-use camera aregenerally known, the description which follows is directed in particularonly to those elements forming part of or cooperating directly with thedisclosed embodiment. It is to be understood, however, that otherelements may take various forms known to a person of ordinary skill inthe art.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-4 show a recased one-time-usecamera 10 comprising a recycled one-time-use camera 12, such as a "KodakFunSaver 35 With Flash", and a pair of opaque outer front and rear coverparts 14 and 16 that together serve to recase the recycled camera.

The recycled camera 12 includes an opaque front cover part 18, atranslucent top plate 20, an opaque rear cover part 22, and an opaquecartridge chamber cover-door 24 that may be pulled away at one of thecamera ends to retrieve a film cartridge from a cartridge receivingchamber (not shown). The front cover part 18, the top plate 20, the rearcover part 22, and the cartridge chamber cover-door 24 are releasablyheld in place via snap-connections (not shown).

The front cover part 18 of the recycled camera 12 has an integralprojecting lens bezel 26 with a lens opening 28 for a taking lens 30, atransparent flash emission window 32, a rectangular opening 34 for aflash-on resilient switch element 36 that is depressed to begin charginga built-in electronic flash (not shown), and an open-air frontviewfinder opening 38.

The top plate 20 of the recycled camera 12 has an integral shutterrelease button 40 and a transparent integral exposure-counter-magnifierwindow 42.

The rear cover part 22 of the recycled camera 12 has an open-air rearviewfinder opening 44 that is optically aligned with the frontviewfinder opening 38 in the front cover part 18 to view a subject beingphotographed, a flash-ready indicator opening 46 that contains a flashready light-emitting diode or the equivalent (not shown) which islight-piped via an optical fiber to a small extension 48 of the rearviewfinder opening, and a longitudinal opening 50 from which a manuallyrotatable film advance thumbwheel 52 protrudes.

The outer rear cover part 16 is adapted to be positioned over the rearcover part 22, over approximately one-half of the top plate 20, and overapproximately one-half of the cartridge chamber cover-door 24. The outerfront cover part 14 is adapted to be positioned over the front coverpart 18, over a remaining one-half of the top plate 20, and over aremaining one-half of the cartridge chamber cover-door 24. See FIGS.1-4. As a result, the cartridge chamber cover-door 24 can not be pulledaway at one of the camera ends to retrieve the film cartridge from thecartridge receiving chamber (not shown) unless the outer front and rearcover parts 14 and 16 are first removed from the recycled camera 12 inthe vicinity of the cartridge chamber cover-door.

The outer front and rear cover parts 14 and 16 and the front and rearcover parts 18 and 22 are made of the same material, plastic.

A plurality of integral hooks 54 on the outer rear cover part 16 arereceived in respective hook-holes 56 in the outer front cover part 14 toreleasably connect the two cover parts together, to recase the recycledcamera 12. Respective front and rear open-air viewfinder openings 58 and60 in the outer front and rear cover parts 14 and 16 are opticallyaligned with the front and rear viewfinder openings 38 and 44 in thefront and rear cover parts 18 and 22 to view a subject beingphotographed. A flash-ready indicator opening 62 in the outer rear coverpart 16 is located opposite the flash-ready indicator opening 46 in therear cover part 22. A small extension 64 of the rear viewfinder opening60 in the outer rear cover part 16 is located opposite the smallextension 48 of the rear viewfinder opening 44 in the rear cover part22. An access opening 66 in the outer rear cover part 16 is locatedopposite the longitudinal opening 50 from which the manually rotatablefilm advance thumbwheel 52 protrudes, to permit one to rotate thethumbwheel. A counter-hole 68 in the outer rear cover part 16 is locatedopposite the exposure-counter-magnifier-window 42 in the top plate 20.The shutter release button 40 on the top plate 20 projects from a pairof hole-halves 70 in the outer front and rear cover parts 14 and 16. Apair of wrist-strap holes 72 in the outer front and rear cover parts 14and 16 are located in line to receive a flexible wrist strap (notshown). An open-air flash opening 74 in the outer front cover part 14 islocated opposite the flash emission window 32 in the front cover part18. A manually depressible flash-on button 76, cantilever-supported onthe outer front cover part 14, is located opposite the rectangularopening 34 for the flash-on switch element 36 to permit one to depressthe switch element to begin charging the built-in electronic flash (notshown).

The front cover part 14 has an integral, projecting, oval-shaped lensbezel 78 that is shaped distinctively different than the lens bezel 26of the front cover part 18. See FIGS. 1 and 3. The lens bezel 78 islocated over the lens bezel 26 in a way that an open-air lens opening 80in the lens bezel 78 is optically aligned with the lens opening 28 inthe lens bezel 26. See FIGS. 1.

The lens bezel 78 of the front cover part 14 is partially surrounded bya slit 82 in the front cover part. The slit 82 longitudinally extendspartially along a curved perimeter 84 of the lens bezel 78. See FIGS. 1and 3. A pair of longitudinally aligned grooved lines of weakness 86 and88 on the front cover part 14 extend to respective ends 90 and 92 of theslit 82. See FIG. 2. A slit 94 in the outer front cover part 14 extendsfrom one edge 96 of that cover part to the grooved line of weakness 86.A slit 98 in the outer front cover part 14 extends from another edge 100of that cover part to the grooved line of weakness 88. This constructionpermits a relatively smaller portion 102 of the outer front cover part14 to be broken away from a relatively larger portion 104 (including thelens bezel 78) of the outer front cover part along the grooved lines ofweakness 86 and 88 and separated partially around the lens bezel 78.

The outer rear cover part 16 has a grooved line of weakness 106. SeeFIG. 1. A slit 108 in the outer rear cover part 16 extends from one edge110 of that cover part first to the access opening 66 and then to thegrooved line of weakness 106. See FIGS. 2 and 4. A slit 112 in the outerrear cover part 16 extends from another edge 114 of that cover part tothe grooved line of weakness 106. This construction permits a relativelysmaller portion 116 of the outer rear cover part 16 to be broken awayfrom a relatively larger portion 118 of the outer rear cover part alongthe grooved line of weakness 106. The grooved line of weakness 106, theslit 108, and the slit 112 are variants of prior art equivalents.

When the relatively smaller portion 102 of the outer front cover part 14is broken away from the relatively larger portion 104 of the outer frontcover part along the grooved lines of weakness 86 and 88 and separatedpartially around the lens bezel 78, and the relatively smaller portion116 of the outer rear cover part 16 is broken away from the relativelylarger portion 118 of the outer rear cover part along the grooved lineof weakness 106, the cartridge chamber cover-door 24 can be pulled awayto retrieve the film cartridge from the cartridge receiving chamber.

The invention has been described with reference to a preferredembodiment. However, it will be appreciated that variations andmodifications can be effected by a person of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope of the invention.

PARTS LIST

10. recased camera

12. recycled camera

14. outer front cover part

16. outer rear cover part

18. front cover part

20. top plate

22. rear cover part

24. cartridge chamber cover-door

26. lens bezel

28. lens opening

30. taking lens

32. flash emission window

34. rectangular opening

36. flash-on switch element

38. front viewfinder opening

40. shutter release button

42. exposure counter magnifier window

44. rear viewfinder opening

46. flash-ready indicator opening

48. small extension

50. longitudinal opening

52. film advance thumbwheel

54. hooks

56. hook-holes

58. front viewfinder opening

60. rear viewfinder opening

62. flash-ready indicator opening

64. small extension

66. access opening

68. counter-hole

70. pair of hole-halves

72. pair of wrist-strap holes

74. flash opening

76. flash-on button

78. lens bezel

80. lens opening

82. slit

84. curved perimeter

86. grooved line of weakness

88. grooved line of weakness

90. end

92. end

94. slit

96. edge

98. slit

100. edge

102. smaller portion

104. larger portion

106. grooved line of weakness

108. slit

110. edge

112. slit

114. edge

116. smaller portion

118. larger portion

What is claimed is:
 1. A one-time-use camera with a front cover part, ischaracterized in that:said front cover part has a lens bezel, alongitudinal opening partially surrounding said lens bezel, and at leastone grooved line of weakness extending to said longitudinal opening, topermit one portion of said front cover part to be broken away fromanother portion of the front cover part along said grooved line ofweakness and separated at least partially around said lens bezel.
 2. Aone-time-use camera as recited in claim 1, wherein said lens bezel has acurved perimeter, and said longitudinal opening conforms to thecurvature of said curved perimeter.
 3. A one-time-use camera as recitedin claim 1, wherein said lens bezel projects from said front cover partbeginning at said curved perimeter, and said longitudinal opening formsa slit partially along said curved perimeter.
 4. A one-time-use cameraas recited in claim 1, wherein said longitudinal opening has a pair ofopposite ends, and two grooved lines of weakness extend to saidrespective ends of the longitudinal opening.
 5. A one-time-use camera asrecited in claim 4, wherein said grooved lines of weakness arelongitudinally aligned.
 6. A front cover part for a one-time-use camera,is characterized in that:said front cover part has a lens bezel, a slitpartially surrounding said lens bezel, and at least one grooved line ofweakness extending to said slit, to permit one portion of said frontcover part to be broken away from another portion of the cover partalong said grooved line of weakness and separated at least partiallyaround said lens bezel.
 7. A method of disassembling a one-time-usecamera having a front cover part that includes a lens bezel, said methodcomprising the step of:breaking one portion of the front cover part awayfrom another portion of the front cover part along a grooved line ofweakness extending to a slit partially surrounding the lens bezel, topermit the two portions of the front cover part to be separated at leastpartially around the lens bezel.
 8. A method of disassembling aone-time-use camera having a front cover part that includes a lensbezel, said method comprising the step of:breaking one portion of thefront cover part away from another portion of the front cover part alongtwo aligned grooved lines of weakness extending to respective ends of aslit partially surrounding the lens bezel, to permit the two portions ofthe front cover part to be separated partially around the lens bezel.